Russian court jails US reporter Gershkovich for 16 years after convicting him of espionage
World
Russian court jails US reporter Gershkovich for 16 years after convicting him of espionage
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian court found US reporter Evan Gershkovich guilty of espionage on Friday and sentenced him to 16 years in a maximum security penal colony in a move his employer, the Wall Street Journal, called "a disgraceful sham conviction."
Gershkovich, a 32-year-old American who said the allegations against him were false, went on trial last month in the city of Yekaterinburg. He was the first US journalist arrested on spying charges in Russia since the Cold War.
Video of the hearing released by the court showed Gershkovich in a glass courtroom cage listening to the verdict being read out in rapid-fire legalese for nearly four minutes.
Asked by the judge if he had any questions, he replied "No" in Russian.
The judge, Andrei Mineyev, said time Gershkovich had already served since his arrest nearly 16 months ago would count towards the 16-year sentence. He ordered the destruction of the reporter's mobile phone and paper notebook. The defence has 15 days to appeal.
The White House and State Department had no immediate comment.
"This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in prison, wrongfully detained, away from his family and friends, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist," the Journal said in a statement.
"We will continue to do everything possible to press for Evan’s release and to support his family. Journalism is not a crime, and we will not rest until he’s released. This must end now."
Friday's hearing was only the third in the trial. Espionage cases often take months to handle and the unusual speed at which the trial was held behind closed doors has stoked speculation that a long-discussed US-Russia prisoner exchange deal may be in the offing, involving Gershkovich and potentially other Americans detained in Russia.
The Kremlin, when asked by Reuters earlier on Friday about the possibility of such an exchange, declined to comment: "I'll leave your question unanswered," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Russian prosecutors had alleged that Gershkovich had gathered secret information on the orders of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency about a company in the Sverdlovsk region that manufactures tanks for Moscow's war in Ukraine, which he and his employer denied.
